Unfunny. Repulsive. Disgusting. Words fail.
Although I do think *THIS* time, Leonard Maltin and Richard Bann, who critiqued this sorry "Our Gang" outing in their 1992 "Little Rascals" book, said it best: "'The New Pupil' is not only embarrassing for Spanky and Alfalfa, but it's also pretty hard for an audience to stomach (I agreed with *that* observation even before I first read the original edition of Maltin and Bann's "Little Rascals" book published in 1977). Female masquerades are usually pretty grim in themselves. but what's worse is making fools of kids one used to identify with and admire (*QUITE TRUE!*)."
And, somehow, this waste of 8:52 (give or take) managed to return approximately $10,201 at the box office, according to Maltin and Bann. It wouldn't be long before the public began to associate "Our Gang" with weak and mostly educational scripts and staged performances, eventually leading to the series' death four years later.
joshlech and marjcbs, I agree with both of you on most of these MGM-produced "Our Gangs." But what the hell were you both thinking this time? Were you both stoned while you were watching this piece of crap?
Ask yourselves: What if somebody you knew pulled a sick prank on both of you like that? Wouldn't YOU be P.O.'d to the nth power that YOU'D want to teach the people who picked on YOU a lesson? If it were me, I'd make them reenact that infamous final scene of "Pink Flamingos" (I've *never* seen that film, and *don't* ever intend to - but anybody who has seen "Pink Flamingos," or heard about said scene as I have, will know *exactly* what I'm talking about)!
And with reference to marjcbs' comparison of "The New Pupil" and "Rushin' Ballet:" In the latter film, Spanky and Alfalfa donned those disguises to hide from and outwit Butch and Woim; that was all done for *comic* effect, and the results were very amusing. In "The New Pupil," on the other hand, Spanky and Alfalfa donned those costumes at Sally's request and played along with her, only to be humiliated by other members of the gang a few minutes later as a result of the ruse devised by Darla and Sally, causing extreme embarrassment for Spanky and Alfalfa - and that *WASN'T* funny at all. So you see, marjcbs, there *IS* a "BIG* difference between "The New Pupil" and "Rushin' Ballet" - and I'd say *"Rushin' Ballet" WINS* hands down!
(Speculation: Could future TV scripters Bob Carroll, Jr. and Madelyn Pugh-Davis possibly have been apprentices to writers Hal Law and Robert Anthony McGowan at MGM? If so, maybe that explains why 97% of their "I Love Lucy" scripts *sucked* - they utilized the "style" employed in "The New Pupil" to a *BIG disadvantage* in "I Love Lucy!" That also helps explain why I like and enjoy "The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy" *much better* than "I Love Lucy," but that's another story.)
It's a shame IMDb's voting system only goes down to 1 for poor films and TV shows. If it went backwards even further to -10, then I KNOW I would give "The New Pupil" *THAT* vote!
Finally, a memo to Warner Home Video: If you ever decide to release a DVD box set of these last 52 MGM-produced "Our Gangs," if you're smart you'll *EXCLUDE* "The New Pupil," "Ye Olde Minstrels," and "Family Troubles!"
*THE END!*
